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Bill to cut
tuition aid
discussed
Dependents’ waivers
would face restrictions
By Andy Raun
Staff Reporter
State postsecondary tuition aid to de
pendents of U.S. veterans would be limited
under terms of a legislative bill dis
cussed Thursday at the State Capitol.
LB998, the subject of a public hearing be
fore the Nebraska Legislature’s Government,
Military and Veterans Af
fairs Committee, stipulates
that qualifying dependents
could receive a tuition waiver
for only one undergraduate
degree at the University of
Nebraska or other state or
-'community colleges.
The bill would prevent dependents from
using state waivers to cam more than one
degree as “lifelong students,” said sponsoring
Sen. Gerald Conway of Wayne.
“This was not the original intent,” Conway
said of some students’ practice of taking waiv
ers to cam multiple degrees.
The bill, which would amend an existing
slate law, also would limit qualification for
waivers to dependents of permanently and to
tally disabled veterans.
Jonathan Sweet, director of the Nebraska
Department of Veteran’s Affairs, said that under
existing law, decisions regarding which dis
abled veterans’ dependents would receive
waivers were made at his discretion.
Under LB998, waivers would be available
not only to dependents of the permanently and
totally disabled, but also to those of Nebras
kans who died in or because of war service, or
who were designated as “missing in action” or
prisoners of war after Aug. 4, 1964.
No limiton the number of students who may i
See VETERAN on 6
T' Wltliam Lauer/DN
Sen. Dave Landis of Lincoln argues against an amendment to his living
will bill Thursday at the State Capitol.
Living will
legislation
forwarded
By Cindy Kimbrough
Senior Reporter
State senators advanced the living will
bill Thursday in a 34-5 vote, but axed
the most controversial section of the
bill.
Last session, Sen. David Landis of Lincoln
introduced LB671, a bill that recognized living
wills in directing medical
treatment if a person became
terminally ill or reached a
persistently vegetative state.
A living will gives the
attending physician specific
instruction on what medical
treatment will be allowed or
acceptable.
During two hours of debate Thursday, Sen.
John Lindsay of Omaha proposed an amend
ment to the bill that would eliminate a section
provided for Nebraskans who were terminally
ill or in a vegetative state and did not have a liv
ing will. In this case, the physician may be
faced with having to decide what to do with the
patient.
According to the original bill, the doctor
would follow a chain of command to make the
decision to end a patient’s life or let him or her
live on life support.
This chain of power follows a 1991
’ Supreme Court decision on a similar case.
The physician first would ask the patient’s
spouse, followed by the children, and then the
parents.
This section was the most controversial part
of the bill, Lindsay said, because it went be
yond what a living will bill was meant for.
When the living will proposal was being
discussed in the hearing, he said, the question
was whether or not Nebraskans should have
living wills.
The discussion “never got into the meat of
See WILL on 3
Proposed plan to improve, clarity UJNL s image
Editor’s note: In his budget-reduc
tion speech Jan. 16, Chancellor
Graham Spanier announced four
programs to improve UNL and
increase the university’s impact on
the state and the world. This series
will examine each of the four initia
tives.
By Sean Green
Senior Reporter
As many as 70 UNL public rela
tions officials will join forces
to better the university’s im
age in Nebraska as part of Chancellor
Graham Spanicr’s improvement pro
grams, a UNL official said.
Michael Mulnix, executive direc
tor of public relations at UNL, said
public relations people from across
campus would be asked to generate
ideas on how to implement the
Statewide involvement, faculty tours on agenda
“Reaching Across Nebraska” initia
tive’s goals.
“He (Spanicr) has given me total
freedom with the initiative,” Mulnix
said. “I think it could have a big
impact on the university.”
Spanicr outlined the goals of
“Reaching Across Nebraska” in his
Jan. 16 speech. The program, Spanicr
said, will be funded by a combination
of private donations and university
funds.
“Reaching Across Nebraska” goals,
as stated in Spanicr’s speech, include:
— Promoting a speakers’ bureau
comprising UNL faculty.
— Sponsoring a tour of Nebraska
for new faculty members.
— Supporting the Institute ol
Agriculture and Natural Resources,
the Lied Center for Performing Arts
and Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery in
their efforts to extend their programs
throughout the state.
— Supporting UNL faculty involve
ment with communities, educational
institutions and other organizations
across Nebraska.
The overall goal of the program is
to give Nebraskans a clearer image of
the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln,
Mulnix said, because UNL affects
most of the state’s people.
“This initiative will let people in
Nebraska know that UNL is in every
community and touches virtually
everyone,” he said. “That includes
prospective students, parents ana
taxpayers who support the univer
sity.”
Some of the ideas in the initiative,
such as the faculty speakers’ bureau,
arc not new, Mulnix said, but have
been insufficiently funded in the past.
“This time, Spanier is saying, ‘Let’s
do it right,”’ he said. ‘“Let’s get our
speakers on the road and coordinate a
program that will get them out across
the state.’”
Under the initiative, Mulnix said,
a political science professor could
travel to communities in Nebraska
and present lectures about current
events, such as the collapse of the
Soviet Union.
The initiative includes a proposed
program in which new faculty would
take three- or four-day tours, not only
of other colleges and universities, but
of the whole state, he said.
The tours would be conducted with
the help of I ANR, he said.
Another outreach goal, Mulnix said,
involves the Lied Center or the Shel
don Art Gallery sending performers,
artists or exhibits to Nebraska com
munities.
Mulnix said he expected “Reach
ing Across Nebraska” to have a sig
nificant impact on the university and
the state.
“UNL has gone through a couple
of tough years, especially with the
budget cuts,” he said. “We want to
make sure people realize that UNL is
still a nationally ranked university
and that Nebraskans should take pride
it.”
Girls’ career options limited, expert says 1
By Erik Unger
Staff Reporter _
Secondary-school classrooms that discour
age girls from pursuing careers in math
and science can lead to lower self-es
teem and fewer career aspirations, the former
Nebraska commissioner of education said.
Anne Campbell said that perceptions were
drawn too early about career options—around
the age of 12 — and that women should be
encouraged to do whatever they want.
Campbell spoke at the Nebraska Roundtable
For Educational Gender Equity on Thursday at
the Nebraska Telecommunications Center, 1800
N. 33rd St.
“They (girls) don’t believe that they can do
well in those areas that arc being demanded in
technological needs,” Campbell said.
Gov. Ben Nelson said that positive attitudes
must be instilled in girls early in life, before
stereotypes can be implemented.
The discussion also was carried on closed
circuit television.
Jim O’Hanlon, dean of the Teachers Col
lege at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
said gender inequity was not just at the school
age level.
He said Nebraska also has a shortage of
women in educational leadership. Out of nine
educational administrators at UNL, three arc
women, he said.
Jim Lewis, chairman of the UNL Depart
ment of Mathematics, said societal pressures,
not ability, were keeping women out of math
and science fields.
He said boys received more attention in
class, and counselors discouraged women from
pursuing high-level math classes. Society is
one reason that only 24 percent of Ph.D.s are
awarded to women, he said.
“We need to be aware to maintain self
esteem in both boys and girls so that they can,
through our efforts and our counseling, meet
their own needs and expectations,” she said.
Correction:ln Tuesday's edition of the Daily
Nebraskan in an article on UNL's peer group, the
University of Nebraska was incorrectly indi
cated as being the first university established
west of the Mississippi River Instead, NU was
the first university to be granted American Asso
ciation of University status The Daily Nebras
kan regrets the error.
Husker basketball team plans re
covery against Iowa State. Page 7
INDEX
Wire 2
Opinion 4
Sports 7
A&E 9
Classifieds _ 11
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